Pittsburgh has just two healthy tailbacks on its active roster.
Joe Sargent/Getty Images Jaylen Samuels of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Thanks to illness and injury, the Pittsburgh Steelers are getting perilously thin at the running back position. On Saturday morning a report emerged that the team’s No.1 running back, James Conner, had tested positive for COVID-19. In the afternoon the Steelers placed Conner on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, which means he won’t be available to play against the Baltimore Ravens (Dec.1) or Washington Redskins (Dec.6). The Steelers won’t have RB Trey Edmunds available for those games either, nor will Edmunds be able to play at Buffalo (Dec.13), as he was placed on injured reserve on Thanksgiving Day with a hamstring injury. Making matters worse, on Saturday the Steelers also announced that third-year RB Jaylen Samuels has already been ruled ‘out’ for Tuesday’s game against the Ravens with a quad injury. That leaves the Steelers with just two healthy tailbacks on the team’s active roster: Second-year man Benny Snell Jr., and rookie Anthony McFarland Jr. Snell has 57 carries for 195 yards this season, as well as three touchdowns. McFarland has 20 carries for 67 yards and an identical 3.4 yards per carry average. Conceivably the Steelers could also ask fullback Derek Watt to carry/catch the ball, but the team would more likely turn to its only other available option: elevating Wendell Smallwood from the practice squad.
